Dumbarton Bridge, Arch bridge in Northwest Washington D.C., United States.
Dumbarton Bridge is a masonry arch bridge in Northwest Washington, D.C., linking Dupont Circle to Georgetown over Rock Creek Park. It runs along Q Street Northwest and carries both vehicle and foot traffic across the wooded ravine below.
Construction of the bridge began in 1914 and was completed in 1915, with architect Glenn Brown applying a Romanesque approach to its design. In 1916 it was named after the Dumbarton land tract, the historic ground on which Georgetown was originally founded.
The bridge carries four buffalo sculptures and arches decorated with Native American head designs based on a life mask of Sioux Chief Kicking Bear. These motifs make crossing it a visually unusual experience in the middle of the city.
The bridge sits on Q Street Northwest and is easy to reach on foot from both Dupont Circle and Georgetown. Walking across gives open views down into the wooded creek valley, and the crossing is more relaxed outside of rush hours.
The buffalo sculptures on the bridge were made by sculptor Roland Hinton Perry, who also created figures for the Library of Congress. It is rare for a road bridge in Washington to feature animal sculptures by a named artist of that standing.
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